Following infant Fatehveer's death, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh orders closing of all open borewells in the state

Following tragic death of two-year-old Fatehveer, who succumbed following his 110-hour ordeal in a borewell in Bhagwanpura Vill of Punjab's Sangrur district, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered closure of all open borewells across state.

toddler, Fatehveer Singh, passed away early morning on Tuesday after he was taken out of borewell following a desperate operation to save him. He was brought to Post Gruate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh but he succumbed. 

Chief Minister, while ordering a detailed inquiry into incident, has sought reports from DCs on all such existing open borewells, with a direction to take immediate corrective action to prevent recurrence of such catastrophic incidents.

Taking te of incident, Chief Minister, who h been personally monitoring rescue operations of Fatehveer, asked Disaster Manment Group heed by state's Chief Secretary to finalise a set of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to check and prevent such incidents. group, which h been constituted to tackle natural calamities, has also been asked to study inequacies, if any, in relief operations, and give recommendations to ensure better and quicker operations in future in case of any such or similar manme disaster.

Or members of Group include Principal Secretary Finance (PSF), FCRDP Financial Commissioner Rural Development and Panchayat (FCRDP) and Financial Commissioner Development (FCD).

“Have directed all DCs to ensure that such open borewell exists in any of districts & have asked m to submit a report within 24 hours. You can call on our helpline number 0172-2740397 if you have information about any such open borewells in your area,” Chief Minister said. 

He ded that district ministration h mobilised and initiated rescue operations within minutes of receiving information of child falling into 125-feet deep borewell at 4.15 pm on 6th June. NDRF joined in and Army authorities at Patiala, Sangrur and at Chandimandir Command were also immediately informed.

RE: Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh Condoles Death Of Toddler Fatehveer, Seeks Report On Open Borewells

Though NDRF personnel were able to tie a kt around both child’s wrists within less than 10 hours of arrival, narrow diameter of pipe caused Fatehveer to get stuck, forcing m to give up on this method, according to an official spokesperson. Meanwhile, earthmover machines that were rushed to spot dug a pit to reduce depth from which operations were being carried out. 

All possible technical support was also provided by district ministration but it took 46 hours to dig a parallel pit and lay pipes against its wall to prevent it from caving in. But problems with angle at which pipe was going in furr obstructed operation, necessitating some horizontal digging also.

According to NDRF officials, who were in constant touch with Army authorities all through operation, physical harm was caused to child during extraction process, which h to be conducted manually as use of machinery could have potentially harmed child, especially because of water requirement of such equipment. 

incident brought to fore safety concerns around abandoned and uncovered borewells, taking into account number of deaths caused,  Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh ordered closure of all borewells across state.